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Nov 28, 2012

Wednesday SHINE.....

Happy Worship Wednesday, SHINE girls! Today is the day we intentionally WORSHIP our man, Jesus! Sing to Him, dance for Him...worship Him in all you do today!

I bet He just loves to hear your pretty little voices in tune, or like me, out of tune! Just worship Him!

We are continuing on today with our SHINE girls serving stories. Aren't you just loving hearing your sweet SHINE sisters stories? Really, we ALL have a story. Yes, even YOU! :)

My precious friend, Rebekah, is posting her story today. Rebekah truly has a servant's heart. She exudes the Father's love in all she does. Really, it's true.

Be blessed by her story, and may it inspire you today!

I love you, SHINE friends!

My Storyby: Rebekah VepraskasHey, y'all! A few months ago, I attended the Women of Faith conference with
our SHINE girls group near Atlanta, Georgia. During the conference, the soloist, Sandi Patty and her
daughter, Jenn, were telling of all of the World Vision kids that they have
sponsored through the years. I believe their family has sponsored 11 children. (Wow!)

They showed a video of her teenaged son, Sam, finally meeting
his own child sponsor in Africa and not being able to communicate through a common
language, instead they played soccer and communicated in their own way together.
They had exchanged pictures and letters for years and were so excited to meet in
person for the first time.

My thoughts immediately were of our sons, Jack, Bodie and
Sam, who are soccer players, too. I had always wanted to be a World Vision
sponsor, even as a little girl. I remember seeing all of the commercials
about sponsoring children in poor villages all over the world. “For about the
cost of a cup of coffee a day…” I remember the words well and I remember those
little sad faces of the children.

I
was trying to talk myself out of my intense urge to sponsor a child. I
thought, My twin sister, Mary, has been doing this with her family for
years. Don't wait another day, Rebekah!

I know what you’re thinking; you’re thinking $35.00 per month is a lot of money. It is!

But,
in my heart I knew that to us it is a Mexican
dinner for our family of 5. The frivolous way we sometimes spend $35
made me know that we could make $35 really count to a child in need. I
heard the Lord say to me, “I have given you so
much, this is about $100 dollars a month and it will help my children.”

I turned to
my friend, Kelly McLeod, and she enthusiastically agreed to go out into the
lobby and help me find us 3 new brothers for my 3 boys. She got the bug too and we were off... :)

The
World Vision staff has to be the nicest group of people
I have ever worked with. They were so sweet and supportive when I told
them that I needed
to find 3 boys close to my 3 boy’s ages. They said we could find little
boys with the exact birth dates of our boys!? Wow! And, we did! Kelly
and I searched
through all of the cards on the tables and then on the World Vision
website. http://www.worldvision.org

It all came together and we are so excited with these perfect pairings for us! Jack(6) is sponsoring
Samuel from Ethiopia. Bodie(4) is sponsoring Thokozani from Malawi. Sam(2) is
sponsoring Dieudonne from Burundi. These 3 sweet boys are all the exact ages of
our sons (with the same birth days!) and they are in our prayers and on our hearts.

This
way to serve is so exciting to me and our family! I think I am so
excited because I have wanted to do this for 30 years now, finally, we
are actively participating in a "life change" for these 3 little boys,
their families and the villages. These little boys are learning about
Jesus...

They can do so much with so little and now these boys and
their families have access to:

Clean water, food and basic health care are now going to be available to our African brothers.

We
are only a few months into our mission, but we will see it through.
Thank you to Kelly and Mary and World Vision for helping to make my
little dream come true. Thank you to Jill for giving me the chance to
toot the World Vision horn. It is really a wonderful feeling.

4 comments:

Rebekah! I love this. So proud of you and your outward portrayal of the commandment in our text today from John 15 - vs, 17: "Love one another." It's awesome that you found THREE boys to sponsor into the Vepraskas family. (You don't do anything half way.) Thanks for sharing what God's doing through World Vision and your precious Vepraskas family. Each one, reaching one - and I pray that you are able to see a giant game of family soccer between all of your boys. What a glorious day that will be. :D

About SHINE

SHINE girls want to spread the gospel of JESUS CHRIST by SHINE-ing bright for all of the world to see! When we read His Word daily and hold each other accountable, we are walking closer and closer to His Light. Come SHINE with us!